Toy



S. l. BERGER July 1, 1941..

TOY

Filed Oct. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORQ 35g 65g .My 1, 14E. R ER 2,247,354

TOY

Filed Opt. 13, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'f l I Hil j INVENTOR J. if/6 @5 6 ORNEY Patented July 1, 1941 TOY Samuel 1. Berger, Newark, N. 3., assignor to Unique Art Manufacturing 00., 1110., Newark, N. J a corporation of New Jersey Application October 13, 1937, Serial No. 168,698

Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to self-propelled spring-actuated wheeled toys. Such toys are self-propelled in only one direction so that long before the spring has become unwound the toy usually encounters obstructions.

The object of my invention is to provide a selfpropelled wheeled toy so designed that it will travel in one direction for only a short distance, and then will automatically overturn and travel in the opposite direction, repeating the performance until its main spring becomes fully unwound, at which time the toy will be in an upright position, convenient for rewinding.

A further object of my invention is to provide a toy of the character described which is provided with a main spring for actuating the toy and with auxiliary means for completely overturning the toy, the auxiliary means being automatically actuated periodically.

A further object of my invention is to provide a toy of the character described which comprises a pair of driving wheels and a pair of driven wheels, the outline of the body of the toy being well within the planes tangent to the tops and to the bottoms of the wheels, so that the wheels will be in position for propelling the toy when the latter is in an upright position.

A further object of my invention is to provide a toy having plates secured to the horizontal portions thereof, said plates being alternately automatically mioved outwardly to overturn the toy.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown, one of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention, and wherein like reference numerals indicate like parts:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a toy embodying my invention, parts being broken away for the sake of clarity,

Fig, 2 is a top plan view thereof, parts of the covering of the .toy chassis being broken away to reveal the internal mechanism, and the vanes being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a complete top plan view" similar to that shown in Fig. 2,

Fig, 4 is a complete side elevational w'ew similar to that shown in Fig, 1,

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4; in the direction of the arrows,

Fig. 6 is a similar view, showing the toy being overturned,

Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the toy overturning mechanism,

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view showing the toy r in position of normal operation and while being overturned, and

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic View showing the manner in which pa ts f th mechan m p r te to overturn the toy.

Referring to the drawings, the toy is shown to comprise a body In which may be of the streamlined outline shown in the drawings or may have any other desired outline, having sides II and i2 and horizontal portions [3 and I 4, made of any suitable material. The axle l5 of the driving-wheels l6l6. is J'Qurnalled in and extends through the sides II and I2 adjacent one end of the body, as shown in Fig. 1; the axle ll of the driven wheels Iii-l3 is journalled in and extends through the sides. H. and I adjacent the other end of the body. The outline of the body it of the toy is well within the planes tangent to the tops and to the bottoms of the wheels l5-ii5 and l8l8, as shown in Fig. 1, so that the wheels will be in a position for propelling the toy when the latter is either in the position shown in Fig. 1 and at A in Fig. 8 or in the overturned position shown at Din Fig. 8.

The toy actuating mechanism comprises the gear I9 which, through the meshing gears 26 and 2|, actuates the axle l5 for driving the wheels lii.l6. Governor gears 22 and 23 engage the gear 2 I. The gear I9 is actuated by the spring 24 which may he wound by a key (not shown) in a manner well known to all versed in this art. The mechanism thus far described would serve to propel the toy in only one di rection, and it would be necessary to manually overturn the toy to propel it in a reverse direction. I have incorporated a means for automatically overturning the toy periodically so that it will propel itself in reverse directions.

Automatic means for overturning the toy The automatic means comprises a gear 25 keyed to the shaft of gear l9 and meshing with a gear 26, the latter being keyed to a shaft 21 journalled in the sides H and I2 of the toy. A pair of plates 33 and 44 are pivotally secured to the horizontal portions l3 and M of the body, respectively, at diametrically opposite points, said plates being alternately automatically moved outwardly to overturn the toy as will be presently more fully explained. A description of the modus operandi of plate 33 will sufiice for both plates.

late 33 is provided at one end (see Fig. '7) with depending lugs 34 through which a pin 34 passes, the ends of said pin being secured to the toy body in any desired or convenient manner to pivotally mount the plate 33 in the horizontal portion l3 of said body. A spring 35 is secured, at one end, to the end of plate 33 adjacent the lugs 34, the other end of said spring being secured to the body It so that the spring tends to move the plate 33 outwardly to its open position, as in Fig. 6. Plate 33 is prevented from moving to the open position except at certain intermittent periods of time, and thereafter is automatically returned to and held in its closed position, this operation being repeated at regular intervals of time. A number of expedients may be resorted to for the attainment of this end. In the embodiment of the invention shown in the drawings this end is attained by the use of releasing member 38 and stud member 334.

In operation the spring 24 of the toy is wound up and the toy is placed on a surface, S (see Fig. 1) The toy will be propelled by the driving wheels It to move in the direction indicated by the arrow 50. V

In accordance with my invention, the releasing member 33 normally holds the plate 33 in its closed position against the tension of the spring 35. But after the toy has run a short distance, the stud member 33'engages releasing member 38 causing the latter to release the plate 33 which will then, due to the tension of spring 35,' pivot outwardly sharply, rolling the toy on the vanes 5i neatly overturning the toy as indicated at B, C and D of Fig. 8, showing plate 44.

The plate 33 is provided, at its free end with a downturned flange 36 which rotatably carries a roller 31 the latter assisting the smooth overturning of the toy as shown.

As will be obvious from Fig. 8 the pairs of vanes 5i and 52 secured to the sides [2 and i3 of the body facilitate the smooth overturning of the toy. When the toy is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and at A of Fig. 8, it has a front wheel drive, the driving Wheels 16 moving it in the direction of arrow 50. But when the toy is in its overturned position the driving wheels provide a rear wheel drive, moving the toy in the opposite direction. This unique reversal of driving direction makes the toy unique and highly entertaining as well as especially adapted for use in small quarters. To attain the foregoing result,

I provide means engaging the plate 33 and actuated by the gear 19 (through gears and 23) for automatically and intermittently permitting the plate 33 to move outwardly in response to the tension of spring 35 and then returning the plate 33 to its closed position. By providing the plate 44 with corresponding means, the plates 33 and 44 will be alternately actuated so that the toy will travel in one direction for a short period of time, will then be overturned by one of the plates, will then travel in a reverse direction for a short period of time and will then be overturned by the other plate, repeating this operation until the" spring 24 has been unwound, preventing further actuation of the releasing member 33.

' The releasing member 38 is swivelly secured .by a pin 46 or the like, to a pivot element 4!, the latter being provided with elongated slots 42 through which passes a pin 43 carried by cars 43' secured to plate 33. Thus it will be seen that the releasing member 38 is enabled to move pendantly and transversely at the point of its connection with plate 33. The member 38 has an elongated, L-shaped slot 45 through which the shaft 2! passes and has flanges 46 and 41 for a purpose presently explained. Slot 45 has a vertical portion 45a and a horizontal portion 451). Member 39 is keyed to the shaft 21 adjacent releasing member 33 which is carried by plate 33. Member 39 is provided with a stud 48. When the shaft 2'! occupies the end of portion 45b of the slot 45 as shown at A in Fig. 9, the member 38 holds the plate 33 down against the tension of spring 35. During the unwinding of spring 24 the shaft 21 rotates and with it rotates the member 39. The stud 48 engages flange 46 of member 38 shifting said member until the vertical portion a of the slot is aligned with the shaft 21; the tension of the spring 35 moving the plate 33 outwardly carries member 33 with the plate, the vertical portion 45a of the slot moving up until the lowermost extremity of slot 45a engages the shaft 21 as at B in Fig. 9, and at B in Fig. 8; the toy is thus overturned. The continued rotation of member 39 returns the member 38 to the position shown at A in Fig. 9 in this manner: After engaging the flange 45 and causing the plate 33 to move to its open position, the member 39 continues its rotation and the stud 48 next engages the flange 4'! of member 38, drawing said member downwardly until the shaft 2'! is at the point of intersection of horizontal and vertical portions 45a and 45b of slot 45. The stud 48 engages depressed portion did of flange 41, shifting the member 33 transversely until the outer extremity of horizontal portion 45b of slot 45 has received the shaft 2?. This locks the plate 33 in its closed position against the tension of spring 35 and it is kept in that position until the member 39 has rotated sufiiciently to bring stud 48 into engagement with the flange 46.

During this interval of time the overturned toy will move in a direction opposite to that in which it was moving when overturned and the plate 43 by the action of its releasing member 33 will overturn the toy, moving it in the reverse direction. The toy travels a short distance, by which time the stud 48 will have reached and engaged flange 46, shifting the member 38 to align the vertical portion @500 of slot 4 5 with the shaft 2'? to move plate 33 to its open position.

The overturning of the toy and reversal of its direction of travel continues until the spring 24 has been fully unwound. When the spring 24 has been fully unwound the toy will be in an upright position, for just as soon as the releasing member 39 has been actuated to release plate 33, that plate is opened by action of spring 35. The arrangement shown in the drawings which is the preferred form assures the toy not being left in a slightly tilted position as it might be if the spring 24 was relied on to overturn the toy.

Subject to this disadvantage, the spring 24 may be used to overturn the toy as well as to propel the same.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A toy having a body, a plate secured thereto, means normally urging said plate outwardly to an open position, to overturn said toy, a releasing member carried by said plate, said member having a slot, a member passing through said slot and means engaging said releasing member to move the latter relatively to the m mber passing through the slot for alternately holding said plate in a closed position and for releasing said plate so that the latter may move to its open position.

2. A toy having a body, a plate secured thereto, means normally urging said plate outwardly to an open position to overturn said toy, a releasing member having an L-shaped slot and flanges, a member passing through said slot, and stud means engageable with said flanges to move the releasing member relatively to the member passing through the slot for alternately holding said plate in a closed position and for releasing said plate so that the latter may move to its open position.

3. In a toy having a body provided with vertical sides and horizontal upper and lower surface, wheels secured to the vertical sides of said body in parallel relation thereto, a plate pivotally secured to one horizontal surface of said body, a plate pivotally secured to the other horizontal surface thereof, spring means carried by said body and engaging said plates for alternately and automatically moving said plates outwardly to overturn the toy through a 180 arc, and vanes secured to the vertical sides of said body to facilitate the overturning of the toy, said vanes being within planes tangent to the tops and bottoms of said wheels,

4. In a toy having a body provided with vertical sides and horizontal upper and lower surface, wheels secured to the vertical sides of said body in parallel relation thereto, a plate pivotally secured to one horizontal surface of said body, a plate pivotally secured to the other horizontal surface thereof, and spring means carried by said body and engaging said plates for alternately and automatically moving said plates outwardly to overturn the toy through a 180 are.

5. In a toy having a body provided with vertical sides and horizontal upper and lower surface, wheels secured to the vertical sides of said body in parallel relation thereto, means carried by said body and engaging at least one of said wheels to rotate said wheel in one direction, a plate pivotally secured to one horizontal surface of said body, a plate pivotally secured to the other horizontal surface thereof, and spring means carried by said body and engaging said plates for alternately and automatically moving said plates outwardly to overturn the toy through a 180 arc.

SAMUEL I. BERGER. 

